INTERVIEWER: Mahmoud Mansi
“The problem with education in Egypt is current educators. They are trapped in being academics, so they teach nothing except how to be an academic and not a practitioner…”
Mohamed Amin
1- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Being the Founder of Art Inn Design Studio – for architecture and interior design – what do you think about office designs in general? From your personal perspective, how could it be designed for the comfort and inspiration of employees?
Mohamed Amin: A design always drives behavior, that’s why I believe office designs are vital in any enterprise that fosters creativity.
I always read “tips and tricks” about creating effective working spaces, tips; such as, using specific colors, going for certain shapes in furniture and integrating plants within the office environment. All of these ideas are great, yet they are not the defining factors for the best working environment. I believe true design should be authentic, that it should reflect the true identity of the organization. This cannot be done through standardized tips and tricks. As a designer, you need to do your homework first and learn more about the culture of the organization you are designing for.
2- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Your primary employees are architects, how does your recruitment process go?
Mohamed Amin: I do headhunting, I consider myself lucky, as I have a good reputation in many communities. Such exposure allows me to select people, I already know. As long as an architect is passionate enough, technical skills and/or experience are things that he/she can acquire with time.
3- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: You have been a member of Alexandria Toastmasters club for more than 6 years, how did this impact your personality? And how did it impact your career?
Mohamed Amin: I am an introvert. I used to be the silent member in any team. Whenever I say this to anyone they think I am being sarcastic. It is true that I did not have communication skills by nature, yet in Toastmasters I was exposed to a new experience. I had to put public speaking and any other leadership role into practice twice a month for nearly 6 years, which was a great communication workout.
The new skills I gained out of this experience opened new horizons in my career. I founded Design Tour, a program that mainly teaches architects the principles of Design Thinking. I was a guest speaker in “Architecture for Change” Conference in 2016 and a TEDx speaker in 2017.
4- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: You conduct “Design Thinking” workshops, can you give us a brief about it, and how it adds benefit, and your progress in it?
Mohamed Amin: In these types of workshops, we teach Design Thinking through a hands-on approach. We let participants experience the process rather than telling them about it. Teaching the design process fills a huge gap, that designers face when tackling the creative process in a human centered design. We let them practice design with an emphasis on the human component of the process.
So far, Design Tour has delivered over 15 workshops, that vary from small ones that last 2 or 3 hours to longer workshops that last for nearly 6 days. We’ve been partners in many community support projects such as, Eltarfa Community Project, Schoolyard for all and Siwi Initiative.
5- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Before you launched your own startup you worked as an architect in several organizations in Egypt, how did you find the management process in this industry? What tips do you suggest for better management?
Mohamed Amin: I am not sure if I truly met real managers during the past 7 years of my career.
I have one golden rule for managers: “Always leave room for your employees to grow, and encourage them to do so for their own sake and not as a direct short term goal for your organization”.
6- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Being the President of Toastmasters Alexandria 2016, what were the problems and challenges you faced, and how did you overcome them?
Mohamed Amin: During my one year term as president of the Alexandria Toastmasters Club, we faced many hardships during the year 2015/2016. Allow me to share the top 3 challenges that taught me a lot. I still apply these lessons in my work in Art Inn and Design Tour:
Challenge no.1: Leader? Then read others’ minds
As a leader, your role is to find common ground that gathers your entire team. It gets harder when your team is already set up, but the hardest part is to know the true motive of each team member. Don’t jump directly into action and hope that the team will soon follow; rather, communicate with your team clearly and often enough to know their different patterns and values. Only then, you can set up a corner stone for your action plan.
Challenge no.2: Communication
Miscommunication can cause a lot of losses. There is always time for a 3-minute phone call.
Challenge no.3: Tolerance Vs the protection of team spirit
As a team leader, you tolerate sometimes unpleasant actions from your team members to a certain extent. Yet, sometimes an unwanted action becomes a pattern and if you do not go for a tough decision, your team spirit can easily collapse.
7- HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: As a self-learner and a trainer what are your comments regarding education in Egypt? And your suggestions?
Mohamed Amin: The problem with education in Egypt is current educators. They are trapped in being academics, so they teach nothing except how to be an academic and not a practitioner.
My suggestion is to integrate practitioners who face real world challenges in the education process, to prepare our students for an ever-changing world.
